李明娟

“It looks rubbish！” I said， frowning1 at the rundown ghost train and comparing it to the cooler rides at the funfair2. The cool rides were huge and fast and everyone was screaming. The ghost train was deserted like a ghost town！

“這看起來很垃圾！”我皺著眉頭看著破敗的幽靈火車，將其與游樂場上更酷的游樂設施進行了比較。那些非常酷的游樂設施巨大，速度又快，每個人都在尖叫。幽靈火車像鬼城一樣空無一人！

“Cant I have another go on the Dinosaur Dipper or the Rocket Launcher？” I asked.

我懇求道：“我就不能再玩一次恐龍七星或火箭發(fā)射車嗎？”

“We queued for hours to get on those rides，” Mum said， tearing off a ride-token and handing it to the woman in the ghost-train booth. “And this one has no queues at all！”

“我們排了幾個小時才輪到坐火車?！眿寢屨f著，撕下一張乘車券，交給了幽靈火車展位上的那個女人，“而且這個沒有人排隊！”

“I wonder why，” I said， reluctantly3 taking a seat on the empty train.

“我想知道為什么，”我無奈地坐在空車上，說道。

Mum never goes on rides because they make her feel sick， so she waved happily as the train crawled towards two doors. The doors had “Tunnel of Terror” written above them in blood-red lettering. Ive been on loads of ghost trains before and theyre never， ever scary.

媽媽從不坐這種火車，因為會讓她感到惡心，所以當火車爬向兩道門時，她開心地揮了揮手。門的上方是用血紅色字母寫的“恐怖隧道”，我以前坐過幽靈火車，從來沒有被嚇到過。

The doors closed behind me and the train rattled along the track， taking a sharp right turn where a green plastic skeleton4 bounced up and down on a piece of elastic5.

門在我身后關上，火車沿著鐵軌嘎嘎作響，在綠色的塑料骷髏骨架綁在一塊松緊帶上上下彈跳時向右急轉。

“YAWN！” I yawned.

“?。　蔽掖蛄藗€呵欠。

The train carried on through the darkness and at the next turn there was a coffin6 with a creaky7 cover. As it creaked open a plastic vampire rose slightly and then flopped back down again.

火車在黑暗中繼續(xù)前進，在下個轉彎處有個棺材，蓋子嘎吱作響地打開時，一個塑料吸血鬼稍稍探了一下頭，然后又跌了回去。

“YAWN！” I yawned again.

“啊！”我又打了個哈欠。

The third turn turned out a flapping white sheet that was probably supposed to be a ghost， but it was about as scary as a white sheet hanging on a windy washing line.

第三個轉彎處出現(xiàn)了一張飄動的白紙，可能是個鬼影，但它就像懸掛在風中的晾衣繩上的床單一樣，一點也不可怕。

“BORING！” I sighed， batting a rubber bat that dangled over my head.

“無聊！”我嘆了口氣，擊打了一下懸掛在我頭頂?shù)南鹉z棒。

The train continued to run along at about one kilometre an hour， while a scratchy8 recording of moans and groans echoed in the darkness.

火車繼續(xù)以每小時約一公里的速度前進，在黑暗中回蕩著錄音效果很差的呻吟聲。

“Theyre probably moaning and groaning out of boredom！” I chuckled.

“他們可能因為無聊而唉聲嘆氣！”我咯咯地笑了。

My chuckle was cut short when the train suddenly stopped with a jolt that made me jump. Then a bright blue phantom9 appeared on the track in front of me！“Im doing my best，” he growled. “You dont have to make fun of it！”

火車突然停下來震動了一下，嚇得我跳了起來，笑聲也被打斷了。然后一道亮藍色的幻影出現(xiàn)在我面前的軌道上！“我正在盡力而為，”他咆哮道?！澳銢]必要嘲笑！”

I wasnt sure whether to scream or say sorry because he wasnt very scary and looked pretty upset. But the phantom vanished10 before I had a chance to do either. And the next thing I knew the train had started up again.

我不確定是尖叫，還是說對不起，因為他不是很嚇人，而且看上去很沮喪。但在我沒有機會做什么之前幻影就消失了，我知道接下來火車又開動了。

Judging by the poor quality of frights in the Tunnel of Terror I was certain the phantom was real. And I knew he was a phantom because he was a bit see-through like a ghost. Phantoms are very similar to ghosts—except theyre monster-shaped instead of people-shaped.

根據(jù)恐怖隧道中很差的恐怖質量判斷，我確信幻影是真實的。我知道他是個幻像，因為他像幽靈一樣有點透明?；糜芭c幽靈非常相似，只是幽靈是怪獸狀而不是人形。

It also made sense that a phantom would live in a ghost-train ride because all theyre good for is scaring people. Although this one wasnt even good at that judging by the lack of queues！

幻影會在幽靈火車上也是有道理的，因為他們最擅長的就是嚇人。但由于沒人排隊，可以判斷這只幻影甚至都不擅長于此！

The train was now running towards the exit and as it crashed through the doors into daylight I was pretty confused. How could a phantom living in a ghost train be so bad at scaring people？

火車現(xiàn)在正朝出口駛去，當它沖出大門開到日頭底下時，我感到非常困惑。住在幽靈火車上的幻影怎么這么不會嚇人呢？

I decided not to tell Mum about the phantom because shed just consider it was part of the ride. If I insisted he was real shed think I couldnt tell the difference between a monster and a dummy11.

我決定不告訴媽媽有關幻影的事，因為她會以為這只是火車之行的一部分，如果我堅持認為他是真的，她會覺得我無法分辨怪物和假人。

“Ive just made an appointment to see the fortune-teller！” Mum said excitedly， pointing to a nearby tent with stars and moons all over it. “But we need to hurry.”

“我剛剛約好了算命先生！”媽媽興奮地說道，指著附近一個附著著滿是星星和月亮的帳篷?！暗俏覀円禳c了。”

“Thats convenient，” I mumbled， because I dont believe fortune-tellers can really tell the future. I think they just say nice things so that people go away feeling happy.

“這真方便?！蔽亦f道，因為我不相信算命先生真能預知未來。我認為他們只是說些好話，讓人們高興地離開。

The last time Mum went to see the funfair fortune-teller it went on for ages， but that was mostly because I kept laughing and doing impressions of Madam Mystic. Madam Mystic said Mum would have a lot of trouble with a certain boy who couldnt take things seriously. I wonder who she was talking about？

距媽媽上一次去游樂場算命已經(jīng)有很長時間了，但這主要是因為我一直大笑，給神秘女士留下了深刻印象。神秘女士說，一位母親和一個無法嚴肅對待事情的男孩一起會遇到很多麻煩。我想知道，她在說誰？

“Cant I stay on the ghost train？” I asked. It had to be better than Madam Mystic， and I was still very curious12 about the funfair phantom.” “Its actually quite good and we do have four ride-tokens left.”

我問：“我不能留在幽靈火車上嗎？”它比神秘女士更好玩，而且我仍然對游樂場的幻影感到很好奇。”“實際上還不錯，我們還有四張乘車券?！?/p>

At the mention of four tokens the woman in the ghost-train booth hurried over. “I can keep an eye on him for you，” she said enthusiastically13. “Oh， I couldnt ask you to do that，” Mum said， frowning at her watch.

在提到四張乘車券時，幽靈列車展位中的那位女士匆匆走過來?！拔铱梢詭湍阏疹櫵?，”她熱情地說道?！芭?，我不能要求你這樣做。”媽媽皺著眉頭看了看手表，說道。

“It would be my pleasure，” said the woman. “The funfair are closing us down after today， so it would be nice to see the old girl rattle14 round a few more times before she goes into retirement.”

女士說：“這是我的榮幸。游樂場在今天之后關閉了我們這個項目，所以很高興看到那個‘老女孩在退休之前多跑幾遍?！?/p>

“Closing down？” Mum said. “But why？”

“關閉？”媽媽說。“但是為什么呢？”

“We cant compete with the bigger rides，” the woman said sadly. “It would seem ghost trains are rather old-fashioned and not exciting enough for young people today.”

“我們無法與更大的游樂設施競爭，”那位女士悲傷地說?！翱磥?，幽靈火車已經(jīng)過時了，對今天的年輕人來說還不夠刺激?！?/p>

“Im terribly sorry，” Mum said.

媽媽說：“非常遺憾?！?/p>

“So can I stay here？” I pleaded.

“那我可以留在這里嗎？”我懇求道。

“Oh， all right，” Mum sighed， handing the tickets to the woman. “Now， if he gives you any trouble at all， or starts making up stories about monsters， Ill be just inside that tent.”

“哦，那好吧。”媽媽嘆了口氣，把券交給了那位女士?！艾F(xiàn)在，如果他給你帶來任何麻煩，或者開始編造有關怪物的故事，我就在那個帳篷里?！?/p>

Before leaving， Mum warned me to behave myself for the nice lady and not to make fun of the ghost train any more. Then she hurried off to the fortune-tellers tent to have her future told.

臨走前，媽媽警告我在這個好心的女士面前要乖一點，不要再嘲笑幽靈火車了。然后，她急忙走到算命先生的帳篷里去算命了。

The woman started up the ride again and waved at me as the train ran towards the doors. I felt bad for making fun of the ghost train， especially now I knew it was closing down. But as the doors closed and the green skeleton bounced15 around in front of me again， I could surely see why. It just wasnt scary！

那個女士再次開動火車，在火車駛向大門時向我招招手。我為取笑幽靈火車感到難過，尤其是現(xiàn)在我知道它要關閉了。但是當門關上，綠色的骨架再次在我面前彈跳時，我絕對可以明白為什么，因為它一點也不嚇人！

As the train crawled past the coffin I looked out for the phantom， but when the train stopped this time， he didnt appear. It was then that I heard a strange noise over the recording of moaning and groaning. It sounded like sobbing16.

當火車爬過棺材時，我四處尋找幻影，但這次火車停下來時，他沒有出現(xiàn)。這時，我在錄好的呻吟聲之外，聽到一個奇怪的聲音，聽起來很像抽泣聲。